Solution Manual For
Criminal Courts A Contemporary Perspective 5 th Edition by Craig T. Hemmens
(Author), David C. Brody, Cassia Spohn
Chapter 1-14
Lecture Notes
Chapter 1: Introduction: Law and the Judicial Function
Chapter Summary
In this chapter, we discussed the meaning of law, the purpose of law, and the judicial
function. Law is a written body of rules of conduct applicable to all members of a defined
community, society, or culture that emanate from a governing authority and are enforced by
its agents by the imposition of penalties for their violation.
We have traced thinking across the centuries about various aspects of the law, from
Hammurabi to modern times. The law was relatively well developed in Hammurabi’s Code,
replacing a system of personal vengeance with a system in which a neutral third party was
charged with making decisions in both criminal matters and business transactions.
There are two general models of the course: the consensus and the conflict model. The
consensus model views society as an integrated network of institutions held together by a
common set of values. The law is seen as a neutral protector of the continuity and stability of
these institutions and values. This perspective also views society as basically good and just.
The conflict model holds the opposite view: community members have widely varying
values and goals, and the law serves the purposes of the ruling classes. The less powerful are
socialized to buy into their own oppression. This view is presented most forcefully in the
works of Marx and Engels. We indicated that all societies are characterized by both conflict
and consensus, with one process dominating at one time and the other at another time.
In discussing the relationship between law and justice, we noted that it is only through law
that justice can be achieved. We began by discussing the role of equity in the evolution of the
common law. Separate courts of equity evolved in England in the 13th century because the
common law had become overly rigid and often at odds with justice. These courts of equity,
or Courts of Chancery, were directed to be flexible and to decide cases based on standards of
fairness rather than on rigid rules of law. It is important to note that equity supplemented
rather than replaced common law and that both systems benefited by the cross-pollination of
ideas over the centuries.
,The rule of law is the only way that we can reasonably ensure that we are integrating
important aspects of justice into our legal systems. The rule of law contains three irreducible
elements: (1) a nation must recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental values and
principles, (2) these values must be committed to writing, and (3) a system of procedures
holding the government to these principles and values must be in place. The first two
principles are relatively unproblematic, but the third requires society to respect the law.
Packer’s (1968) two “ideal-type” models of criminal justice are the crime control and due
process models. The former emphasizes the protection of the community from the criminal,
and the latter emphasizes the protection of the accused from the state. No modern legal
system completely conforms to either of these ideal types. Rather, each system lies on a
continuum, and the enforcing the law and ensuring due process can sometimes come into
conflict.
Rulings of the courts set precedence for how similar cases should be followed. Ultimately,
the Supreme Court has the final say on the interpretation on the constitutionality of law. This
was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Additionally, higher courts are charged
with ensuring that lower courts are following proper procedure. Through adjudication, the
courts can formally decide who is labeled criminal. Laws continue to be reviewed by the
courts and changed to this day.
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. Why Study Courts?
A. Crime is news and people want to know about crime and should know what is
fact and what is fiction
1.Courts make decisions every day that affect everyone’s lives
a. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
b. United States v. Booker (2005)
2.Courts evolve and change and undergo transformations important to
public discussions of crime control
II. What Is Law?
A. Created by the legislature
1.Law
a. A written body of rules of conduct applicable to all members of
a defined community, society, or culture which emanate from a
governing authority and which are enforced by its agents by the
imposition of penalties for their violation
b. All societies have some form of law
i. Law means to bind together
2.Courts
a. A forum for dispute resolution
b. A means of maintaining order
III. The Code of Hammurabi
A. One of the oldest known written legal codes
, 1.From Hammurabi (2123 to 2081 BCE), King of Babylonia
2.Governed relationships in the society related to sexual behavior,
property rights, theft, and acts of violence
3.Lex talionis
a. An eye for an eye
IV. Two Opposing Perspectives: Conflict and Consensus
A. Consensus Theorists
1.Society is structured to maintain its stability
a. An integrated network
2.People share similar values and beliefs
a. The law helps maintain these
3.Views law is neutral framework
a. Just and necessary way to control behavior
b. Express compromises
i. No winners or losers
B. Conflict Theorists
1.Consider society to be composed of individuals and groups with
sharply different interests and to be characterized by conflict and
dissention
2.Sees human beings as basically exploitive and duplicitous creatures
a. Capitalism promotes these behaviors in society
3.Rests on the assumptions of conflict sociology (Karl Marx)
4.Holds that laws are a reflection of those in power
a. And the legal system helps continue this
b. The powerful benefit from law, the powerless are harmed
5.Relies on the idea of false consciousness (Marx and Engels)
a. Working class accepts the worldview of the powerful
i. Even though not in their best interest
C. Both consensus and conflict perspectives are ideal types
D. Both perspectives are necessary to the discussion of processes in this book
1.Consensus perspective best explains some facts; conflict perspective
best explains others
V. What Is the Relationship of Law to Justice?
A. Law and justice are not identical
B. Law is in accordance with justice when it respects, cultivates, and protects the
dignity of even the lowliest person living under it; it violates justice when it
does not.
1.It is only through law that justice can be achieved.
C. Equity
1.Latin for “just”
2.Refers to remedies for wrongs that were not recognized under English
common law
3.Equity in medieval England
a. Court of Chancery
b. Equity supplemented, not replaced, common law
c. Necessary due to “defects” in the rigid common law
, 4.Common law and equity merged over time, to the benefit of both
VI. The Rule of Law
A. Adherence to rule of law ensures integration of important aspects of justice
with a legal system
B. Reichel’s three irreducible elements contained in the rule of law:
1.It requires a nation to recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental
values and principles.
2.These principles must be committed to writing.
3.A system of procedures that hold the government to these principles
and values must be in place.
a. Requires society members to “buy in” to the law
VII. Justice, the Law, and Packer’s Models of Criminal Justice
A. Herbert Packer (1968)
1.Crime control and due process
a. Models, not reality
b. Two ends of a continuum
B. Crime Control Model
1.Goal of criminal justice system is controlling crime
2.Emphasizes efficiency, speed, and finality
a. Assembly line
3.Supports informal screening by police and prosecutor
a. Most of the time, only guilty people are charged
b. Efficiency over reliability
4.Focuses on factual guilt
C. Due Process Model
1.Views criminal justice system as an obstacle course
2.Goal of criminal justice system is protecting rights of defendants
a. Emphasizes reliability
b. Police and prosecutors can make mistakes.
i. Reliability over efficiency
c. Supports formal, adversarial procedures
d. Focuses on legal guilt
3.Table 1.1
D. An illustration of the models in action
1.Brewer v. Williams (1977)
2.Brown v. Mississippi (1936)
3.Nix v. Williams (1984)
E. The Ongoing Battle
1.Ideally, crime control and due process balance
a. In reality, this does not always happed
i. High caseloads, limited resources, concerns about
community safety
ii. Restraining the power of criminal justices officials
iii. Plea bargaining as an example
VIII. Judicial Functions
A. Settle disputes
Criminal Courts A Contemporary Perspective 5 th Edition by Craig T. Hemmens
(Author), David C. Brody, Cassia Spohn
Chapter 1-14
Lecture Notes
Chapter 1: Introduction: Law and the Judicial Function
Chapter Summary
In this chapter, we discussed the meaning of law, the purpose of law, and the judicial
function. Law is a written body of rules of conduct applicable to all members of a defined
community, society, or culture that emanate from a governing authority and are enforced by
its agents by the imposition of penalties for their violation.
We have traced thinking across the centuries about various aspects of the law, from
Hammurabi to modern times. The law was relatively well developed in Hammurabi’s Code,
replacing a system of personal vengeance with a system in which a neutral third party was
charged with making decisions in both criminal matters and business transactions.
There are two general models of the course: the consensus and the conflict model. The
consensus model views society as an integrated network of institutions held together by a
common set of values. The law is seen as a neutral protector of the continuity and stability of
these institutions and values. This perspective also views society as basically good and just.
The conflict model holds the opposite view: community members have widely varying
values and goals, and the law serves the purposes of the ruling classes. The less powerful are
socialized to buy into their own oppression. This view is presented most forcefully in the
works of Marx and Engels. We indicated that all societies are characterized by both conflict
and consensus, with one process dominating at one time and the other at another time.
In discussing the relationship between law and justice, we noted that it is only through law
that justice can be achieved. We began by discussing the role of equity in the evolution of the
common law. Separate courts of equity evolved in England in the 13th century because the
common law had become overly rigid and often at odds with justice. These courts of equity,
or Courts of Chancery, were directed to be flexible and to decide cases based on standards of
fairness rather than on rigid rules of law. It is important to note that equity supplemented
rather than replaced common law and that both systems benefited by the cross-pollination of
ideas over the centuries.
,The rule of law is the only way that we can reasonably ensure that we are integrating
important aspects of justice into our legal systems. The rule of law contains three irreducible
elements: (1) a nation must recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental values and
principles, (2) these values must be committed to writing, and (3) a system of procedures
holding the government to these principles and values must be in place. The first two
principles are relatively unproblematic, but the third requires society to respect the law.
Packer’s (1968) two “ideal-type” models of criminal justice are the crime control and due
process models. The former emphasizes the protection of the community from the criminal,
and the latter emphasizes the protection of the accused from the state. No modern legal
system completely conforms to either of these ideal types. Rather, each system lies on a
continuum, and the enforcing the law and ensuring due process can sometimes come into
conflict.
Rulings of the courts set precedence for how similar cases should be followed. Ultimately,
the Supreme Court has the final say on the interpretation on the constitutionality of law. This
was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Additionally, higher courts are charged
with ensuring that lower courts are following proper procedure. Through adjudication, the
courts can formally decide who is labeled criminal. Laws continue to be reviewed by the
courts and changed to this day.
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. Why Study Courts?
A. Crime is news and people want to know about crime and should know what is
fact and what is fiction
1.Courts make decisions every day that affect everyone’s lives
a. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
b. United States v. Booker (2005)
2.Courts evolve and change and undergo transformations important to
public discussions of crime control
II. What Is Law?
A. Created by the legislature
1.Law
a. A written body of rules of conduct applicable to all members of
a defined community, society, or culture which emanate from a
governing authority and which are enforced by its agents by the
imposition of penalties for their violation
b. All societies have some form of law
i. Law means to bind together
2.Courts
a. A forum for dispute resolution
b. A means of maintaining order
III. The Code of Hammurabi
A. One of the oldest known written legal codes
, 1.From Hammurabi (2123 to 2081 BCE), King of Babylonia
2.Governed relationships in the society related to sexual behavior,
property rights, theft, and acts of violence
3.Lex talionis
a. An eye for an eye
IV. Two Opposing Perspectives: Conflict and Consensus
A. Consensus Theorists
1.Society is structured to maintain its stability
a. An integrated network
2.People share similar values and beliefs
a. The law helps maintain these
3.Views law is neutral framework
a. Just and necessary way to control behavior
b. Express compromises
i. No winners or losers
B. Conflict Theorists
1.Consider society to be composed of individuals and groups with
sharply different interests and to be characterized by conflict and
dissention
2.Sees human beings as basically exploitive and duplicitous creatures
a. Capitalism promotes these behaviors in society
3.Rests on the assumptions of conflict sociology (Karl Marx)
4.Holds that laws are a reflection of those in power
a. And the legal system helps continue this
b. The powerful benefit from law, the powerless are harmed
5.Relies on the idea of false consciousness (Marx and Engels)
a. Working class accepts the worldview of the powerful
i. Even though not in their best interest
C. Both consensus and conflict perspectives are ideal types
D. Both perspectives are necessary to the discussion of processes in this book
1.Consensus perspective best explains some facts; conflict perspective
best explains others
V. What Is the Relationship of Law to Justice?
A. Law and justice are not identical
B. Law is in accordance with justice when it respects, cultivates, and protects the
dignity of even the lowliest person living under it; it violates justice when it
does not.
1.It is only through law that justice can be achieved.
C. Equity
1.Latin for “just”
2.Refers to remedies for wrongs that were not recognized under English
common law
3.Equity in medieval England
a. Court of Chancery
b. Equity supplemented, not replaced, common law
c. Necessary due to “defects” in the rigid common law
, 4.Common law and equity merged over time, to the benefit of both
VI. The Rule of Law
A. Adherence to rule of law ensures integration of important aspects of justice
with a legal system
B. Reichel’s three irreducible elements contained in the rule of law:
1.It requires a nation to recognize the supremacy of certain fundamental
values and principles.
2.These principles must be committed to writing.
3.A system of procedures that hold the government to these principles
and values must be in place.
a. Requires society members to “buy in” to the law
VII. Justice, the Law, and Packer’s Models of Criminal Justice
A. Herbert Packer (1968)
1.Crime control and due process
a. Models, not reality
b. Two ends of a continuum
B. Crime Control Model
1.Goal of criminal justice system is controlling crime
2.Emphasizes efficiency, speed, and finality
a. Assembly line
3.Supports informal screening by police and prosecutor
a. Most of the time, only guilty people are charged
b. Efficiency over reliability
4.Focuses on factual guilt
C. Due Process Model
1.Views criminal justice system as an obstacle course
2.Goal of criminal justice system is protecting rights of defendants
a. Emphasizes reliability
b. Police and prosecutors can make mistakes.
i. Reliability over efficiency
c. Supports formal, adversarial procedures
d. Focuses on legal guilt
3.Table 1.1
D. An illustration of the models in action
1.Brewer v. Williams (1977)
2.Brown v. Mississippi (1936)
3.Nix v. Williams (1984)
E. The Ongoing Battle
1.Ideally, crime control and due process balance
a. In reality, this does not always happed
i. High caseloads, limited resources, concerns about
community safety
ii. Restraining the power of criminal justices officials
iii. Plea bargaining as an example
VIII. Judicial Functions
A. Settle disputes
